It's all about trusting. Ryan and his big sister, Emily

I was sent this picture of my grandson, Ryan.  It’s his first experience on roller blades.  Notice the trust he has in his big sister and notice how his big sister cares for him?

Another thing struck me about this picture.  It’s the preparation they made and the protection they put on before attempting this fearful and scary new adventure.  This is what God calls all of his children to do.  Prepare and protect ourselves from whatever the circumstance… and then  Trust in Him…and He will take our hand and guard and protect us from all evil.

Have you taken the time to meditate on His Word and put on His protection?  Are you prepared?  And…who are YOU putting your trust in today?

“This I know, that God is for me.  In God, whose word I praise, in the Lord, whose word I praise, in God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid.  What can man do to me?  Your vows are binding upon me, O God; I will render thank offerings to You, for You have delivered my soul from death, indeed my feet from stumbling, so that I may walk before God in the light of the living.”  Psalm 56: 9-13

Blessings,  Linda

For all you dear readers…I’m sorry that my posts have been delayed!  I’m just now recovering from two surgeries.  One to correct my reconstruction following breast cancer and the other one to solve a problem with my leg.  It’s so nice to see the world without the haze of painkillers.  I can finally focus on my computer and this blog!

I wanted to write about the marvelous trip we took to Brazil!  David was in India and then a few weeks after his return we were both asked to go to Brazil.  David sang and spoke twice a day there for about 5 days and I was asked to speak to the women.

Let me just say that Brazil was quite a surprise for me.  I was expecting it to be very backward.  What I found was beauty, wonderful people and a very progressive country!

Brazil has beautiful flowers!

wine and roses

yellow butterfly on windowsill

Very strange birds!

don't know what they're called...but I've never seen them around Minnesota!

Beautiful scenery.

beautiful skies

waterfalls

rainforest

quaint buildings

Different food.

whatever this is...it's very sweet!

no idea what this is. Didn't taste it either.

lace curtains

cheery red checkered

Open windows everywhere!  They must not have mosquitos.

But the best part of Brazil?  The dear friends that I will treasure forever.  They welcomed David and me with such love and kindness.  We felt like family from the moment we landed.  Thank you all for the fun…food…fellowship and friendship.  Your faithfulness really ministered to me and I miss you all very much!

So…dear family in Mafra, Brazil…from David and me…

Linda and David Koblish

As they say in Portuguese…

OBRIGADA!!!!!!!

Blessings, Linda

I happened to pass by this Buddhist temple.

Idols in front of temple

I couldn’t help noticing that their gods are all wrapped up in plastic to protect them from the snow and ice of winter .

It’s too bad  they worship gods of stone that they have to protect.

“Because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.  For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.”  Romans 1:19-20. ”

“For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”  Romans 1:21.

“For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever.  Amen.”  Romans 1:25

who's protecting who?

I’m so thankful that MY GOD…the ONE TRUE GOD…JESUS CHRIST,

PROTECTS ME!!!

“Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious to me, for my soul takes refuge in You; and in the shadow of Your wings I will take refuge until destruction passes by.  I will cry to God Most High, to God who accomplishes all things for me.  He will send from heaven and save me; He reproaches him who tramples upon me.  God will send forth His lovingkindness and

HIS TRUTH” Psalm 57:1-3

Blessings, Linda

I was asked to speak about our Dutch heritage at a special tea held in Ohio at our daughter’s church.

"The Noordam"

My Dutch Grandmother

"Heritage Tea" in Cleveland, Ohio

My grandparents came to America from Holland aboard  the “Noordam” steamship, with eight little ones in tow.  They left a beautiful country filled with flowers, canals and  lush, green grass.  After passing through Ellis Island, they ended up on the dusty, dry farmland of South Dakota.  It was a very hard adjustment for my grandmother.  Once in America, they had four more children of which my father was the youngest.

40th anniversary in Holland

graveyard in Sonneja, Netherlands

My Father's book called..."No Charge"

David and I went to Holland for our fortieth wedding anniversary.  We walked through the little town where my grandmother lived.  I tried to imagine what it must have been like to leave this beautiful country, family and friends and set out for a foreign land.  I tried to think how I’d feel knowing I’d never see my loved ones again on this earth.  I wondered what my grandparents would think if they could see  the generations after them,  coming back to their homeland, trying to find some traces of their heritage.  We walked through a graveyard and I found a tombstone with the “Kredit” name on it (my maiden name).  But I couldn’t find anything more about our family.  The “old” people are almost all gone and our family history is becoming a faded memory.  My father was the last of his family to die.  Before he died, he wrote down his memories and put them in a book for all the children and grandchildren to read.  He left a wonderful legacy for future generations to come.  They can all read about his life and the memories he had of his parents and family.

I’m very proud of my Dutch ancestry, but I was born into this heritage…I had no choice in the matter.  My children are Dutch descendants and they too had no choice.

There is another heritage available to us.  We can all be a part of the family of God.  John 1:12 “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”   This isn’t a heritage that you’re born into.  It doesn’t matter if your parents were Christians…it doesn’t matter if you are “religious”…it doesn’t matter if you are a “good” person doing “good” things.  Being a part of God’s family means that you have repented of your sin (and we’re all sinners!). You believe that Jesus Christ is God, Himself in human flesh.  You believe that Christ’s sacrifice on the cross is the only way to restore our relationship to God and provide a way for us to escape the penalty of death and have eternal life.  If you want to be a part of God’s family….you have to ask Christ to be your Savior and Lord…you have to choose HIM!  And…let me tell you…it’s a wonderful choice and it’s the greatest heritage you could ever be a part of!

My hope and prayer for you?  That I will be able to say to you….welcome to the family!

Blessings, Linda

Dear Friends:

I realize that Christmas is past, but actually…the Scandinavian people don’t take down their Christmas decorations until the tenth of January and then the wise-men still have to come and visit…so I’m hoping that I can  sneak this blessing in for all you dear readers.

This is the Christmas Card that we sent out this year.  We pray that you will know that Christ came for a purpose.

He came to redeem us.  He came to redeem us from the penalty of sin.  If you accept the sacrifice He made…If you ask Him to take control of your life and be your Savior and Lord…If you trust and obey Him for everything…

then this Christmas is a blessed event for You.  You are His child…He came to redeem YOU!

Blessings,  Linda

On the first day of Christmas my loved ones gave to me…A request to babysit our grandson so our son and wife could take a “holiday” trip to San Diego.

On the second day of Christmas my loved ones gave to me…An invitation to my daughters “Christmas Banquet”.  I had nothing to wear that fit me… so I left my coat on the whole time!

On the third day of Christmas my loved ones gave to me…A trip to Cleveland to attend my other daughter, Kim’s “Christmas Banquet”.  I lugged a huge suitcase from Minnesota filled with Dutch items to help her decorate a Dutch Heritage table for the special night. 

On the fourth day of Christmas my loved ones gave to me…the realization that I had to get up in front of the women at this banquet and speak to them all about our Dutch Heritage…I still didn’t have anything to wear that fit me, but I couldn’t wear my coat either in front of everyone……BUMMER!

                                                           On the fifth day of Christmas my loved ones gave to me…The fact that we will have our grandson for:

FIVE    WHOLE    DAYS!

  On the sixth day of Christmas my loved ones gave to me…a request from our church to paint a backdrop for the children’s Christmas program.  I was asked to paint the world on an 8ft. diameter piece of plywood. 

On the seventh day of Christmas my loved ones gave to me…sympathy as I came off the plane from Cleveland with extreme tooth pain and ended up with a “root canal” that same day!

On the eighth day of Christmas my loved ones gave to me…the scare that our daughter Katie…36 weeks pregnant…slipped on the ice…fell…and broke her ankle!

On the ninth day of Christmas my loved ones gave to me…the call that David’s mother is sick and was admitted to the hospital.

On the tenth day of Christmas my loved ones gave to me…the opportunity to babysit my little granddaughter.  Our daughter-in-law was sick at home with the stomach flu…so we had our little Lucy for an overnight adventure.

On the eleventh day of Christmas my loved ones gave to me…a granddaughter who caught the stomach flu from her mother and so I was up every 25 minutes…all night long…cleaning up stomach flu!!!

On the twelfth day of Christmas my loved ones gave to me….well…actually the 12th day isn’t here yet.  We still have eight days left to Christmas.

But… I am starting to feel a bit queasy!!!!!!!

What I wouldn’t give for a partridge in a pear tree  right about now!

Blessings, Linda

 

September always brings about a funny feeling in the pit of my stomach.  I know that the Holidays are soon approaching.  It’s quite obvious because the Christmas decorations are already being displayed in many stores!  Anyway, I tend to get so caught up in the frenzy of things around this time of year.  I’m tired, sick and overwhelmed. 

Why do we do this to ourselves?  What are we preparing for?  What are we expecting?  It’s as if we’re trying to capture some perfect feeling.  It’s as if Hollywood has warped our minds and we’re all looking for “It’s a Wonderful Life” or “Miracle on 34th Street” or who knows what.  The Advent calendars have boxes to open each day to reveal a prize or a chocolate or some tiny reward…reward for what? 

Those little boxes on the calendar only make me nervous…I’m nervous to see the days tick away knowing that there is still so much to do.  The weather in Minnesota usually decides to dip below O degrees and if it’s not bitter cold, it’s snowing and the roads are a mess.    What are we looking for?

Squashed amongst the busyness of the Christmas season, Advent has become little more than a daily countdown to Christmas day. If you look back a bit in history, Advent was a very special season of preparation and anticipation for the coming of Jesus Christ. This season is both to remember the birth of Jesus as well as to anticipate His second coming.

My wonderful daughter-in-love, Paola came to us from Peru.  She had the tradition of celebrating Advent each Sunday in December.  So, we decided to follow this tradition in our family.  What a wonderful and peaceful moment!  My daughters and friends gather together at different houses each week  for a few hours to read God’s Word,  think about the purpose of celebrating Christmas and to pray.  We also enjoy a few goodies and tea together.

Advent begins 4 Sundays prior to Christmas and ends at sundown on Christmas eve. According to the traditional celebrations, Christmas lasts from Christmas eve to January 8 which is the day of Epiphany, celebrating the arrival of the wise men to honor the baby Jesus.

One of the most common ways to remember Advent is through the use of an Advent wreath and candles. Traditionally, An Advent wreath has 3 purple (or royal blue) candles, and 1 rose (pink) candle. If you are using the traditional candle colors, the rose candle is lit on the 3rd Sunday.  The important thing is to remember Christ’s birth and hope for His return.

Each week, on Sunday, a new candle is lit, and on Christmas eve all the candles are lit. Each week has a new theme for devotions and activities.

The third week was my turn to host Advent.  My topic to bring for devotions was Joy.  Joy is something that I’ve been really searching for this year.  We talk about it a lot and we know that the Lord has promised that we can have Joy…but how do we get it?  With all of life’s difficult circumstances today, where is this Joy? 

I was passing through Nordstrom’s one day and I noticed that their Christmas theme for the year was called:  “The Joy Within”.   “This is GREAT!”  I thought.  ”This is just what I’ve been looking for!”  I was particularly drawn to the beautiful glass case placed right in the middle of the aisle.  On the outside of the glass, very beautifully stenciled were the words:  “The Joy Within”.  ”Ah, that’s where the Joy must be”, I exclaimed.  I had to go over and see just how I could finally ”buy”  this magic.  So, I walked over and peered inside the display.  There sitting on a bed of velvet were some make-up items…eye shadow and mascara and next to them laid a sparkly bracelet and a pair of rhinestone earrings.  “This is it?  This is the Joy Within?”  I asked myself.  ”How can I find Joy from this…some crummy makeup used as a mask for my face and some cheap “bling” to try to make people look at me with envy…as if I have everything life has to offer?”  This was far, far from the “Joy Within” that I was looking for.  

So, this year I’ve really been trying to figure out  just what the “Joy Within”  is really all about, and this is what I’ve discovered…

Joy is not something I can buy in any store.  It’s not having a pile of money and wanting more and more.  I’m learning that there isn’t any Joy within anything  this world has to offer.  Joy comes from God’s grace…alone.   Joy is found within the manger on that first Christmas night.  It’s the Joy that was born…poor, dirty and alone  in a stable without any “bling”.  It’s the Joy that came pouring into me from my Savior… after I was finally broken, humbled and freely died to myself, trusting totally in Christ…alone.  It’s His Joy, His Love, His image that’s reflected to others through me!  It’s Joy that I can experience if I’m happy or disappointed.  It’s Joy that’s mine whether I’m hurt by others, disillusioned, sick, dying or alone.  There isn’t a circumstance good or bad that can keep me from this Joy!    

My dear friends…it’s Joy found in no other place but in His everlasting arms…abiding in Him! 

Jeremiah 15:16…”Thy words were found and I ate them, and Thy words became for me a Joy and the delight of my heart; for I have been called by Thy name.

“JOY TO THE WORLD!”

Blessings,  Linda

 So….how was your Thanksgiving?  We had a wonderful and blessed time at our home.  All the children and grandchildren were able to be with us this year! 

As the grandchildren get older, it’s so much fun to see Thanksgiving through their eyes.  Emily, our oldest, drew her version of the holiday.  This is the Mayflower with the Pilgrims and I think that guy on the right just might be an Indian.  I’m not sure!  She did draw in crosses that represent the Pilgrim’s desire to find a place where there was freedom to worship the Lord.

I also let the older granddaughters make the table decorations for the “kids table”. They glued and embellished little Pilgrims.  Here’s an example of their work (I think the Pilgrims must have had a rough trip over on the boat…either that or they ate too much turkey!!)Today, so many people are trying to pick apart our spiritual history and that history is being rewritten.  It’s so important that we hold up the Truth of what our country was founded on!  It’s so important to pass this Truth on to the next generation. 

We are thankful for so many blessings.  Many people recite their thankfulness for jobs, money, health, homes, families, etc.  But we are called to  remember where we came from and to what extent people gave up their homeland and even their lives for what is really important…freedom to worship Christ.  This freedom is under attack in our country.  The Judeo/Christian heritage we have is being eroded bit by bit.  We don’t live in a country that was founded on the separation of the Church from the state like the government wants us to believe.  No…we live in a country that was founded on the state staying out of the business of the Church!  It was the freedom of the Church that was most important to our founding fathers.  

This year I hope you remember the Truth of our spiritual heritage.  Look to where we’re headed as a nation and humbly call upon God to bring us back…to renew us…to forgive us….to restore us!  “… My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”  2Chronicles 7:14

After Thanksgiving came the clean-up.  The table was cleared, leftovers packed away, the fancy dishes were washed and stored for another year…but I forgot one thing.  Luckily my grandson, David didn’t forget to…  brush the Pilgrim’s teeth!

Blessings,  Linda

 My Grandma was a wonderful cook!  Sitting  at her dining room table and enjoying her delicious meals was such a treat!  Grandma also loved to set an elegant table.  She always used a beautiful tablecloth and she carefully set the table with her fancy china.  My mother gave me some of my grandma’s dishes after she died and I think of her every time I use them.  Grandma passed down her love of making special meals to my mother and my mother was a wonderful cook!  Mom decorated her tables for every season with tablecloths she fashioned from a netting underskirt topped with sequined, embellished appliques.  Often times mom made an apron out of the same netting to match her tablecloths.  If mom was wearing one of her fancy aprons…you knew the meal was going to be extra special!  Mom passed down her love of cooking to me.  And this is where everything broke down!  I’ve felt like such a failure because  I didn’t know how to pass the skill I have of cooking down to my daughters!   But…fortunately I’m starting to think that the art of cooking and setting a beautiful table might somehow be genetic and I think my girls might just have inherited this craft from some wonderful gene that they’ve received from some ancient,  past relative.  I’m saying this because Kim, our oldest daughter is starting to get real excited about cooking!  She now loves fancy dishes… loves to set a beautiful table and is very excited about trying and serving delicious new recipes! Kim recently served me a wonderful mustard chicken dish and I want to share this recipe with you!  It’s really good and you’ve just got to try this!!!  Oh and Katie is becoming a great cook too!  I’ll share some of the recipes she’s discovered in upcoming blogs.

Honey- tangy chicken:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1/2 cup  honey

1/2 cup  Dijon mustard

1/4 cup melted butter

1/4 cup fresh ground pepper

1 cup dried breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Mix sauce  using the first five ingredients, reserving 1/4 cup of sauce.  Spray a baking pan with Pam.  Pat chicken breast dry and dip in 1/4 of the sauce mixture then in the breadcrumbs and place in the sprayed baking pan.  Do this with each chicken breast.  Pour the saved 3/4 of the sauce over the chicken and bake for about 45 minutes until the juices run clear.   I like to bake the breasts uncovered until it browns a bit, basting the chicken often.  After it browns, cover and bake until done.

This dish is great with rice.  After the chicken is baked, the sauce could be thickened with a bit of cornstarch and poured over the rice.  Serve with a salad or a pretty green vegetable and you have a delicious dinner!

Blessings, Linda

It was 20 years ago this November that the Berlin wall came crashing down.  What began as a barbed wire fence in 1961, within 24 hours turned into a massive, immovable, concrete wall.  The people in Eastern Germany were told that this wall was the “Anti Fascist Protection Wall”, built to keep the people from the “West” from polluting the people from the “East” or as they now called themselves… the GDR (German Democratic Republic). 

I knew all about East Germany because I grew up next door to a dear friend and neighbor, Mrs. Staege.  Mrs. Staege was a stout, rough looking, German lady who always seemed like an old person to me.  It must have been because for as long as I knew her, she had long, silvery, white hair, which she always kept carefully piled up on top of her head like a beautiful crown, surrounded by a neatly fashioned braid.  Mrs. Staege would always wear great, big, sparkly earrings clipped to her long, dangly earlobes.  Her earrings were worn at all times…whether dressed in  fancy dresses or wearing  jeans.  I grew up on a lake in Minnesota, and our neighbor, Mrs. Staege was the person who taught me how to swim.  My biggest memory was seeing my friend, almost every day in the summer, just floating around on her back, in the middle of the lake with her head and feet sticking up out of the water.  She would swim out and float for the longest time, with her hair piled up in that perfect crown…wearing her big, sparkly earrings!  I often marveled that some big, old fish didn’t jump up and bite her ear thinking that her sparkly earring was really some fancy bait!

Mrs. Staege’s heart was always back in East Germany with her family.  I would sit for hours in her purple and green living room, at her home on the lake, eating cookies and listening to her stories about her life in Germany.  She and her husband escaped Nazi Germany right before the war broke out, but the rest of her family were not so fortunate.  They were living in a world of oppression first under Hitler and then under the Communist regime.  The Berlin wall and the Iron Curtain were unique.  Most walls are erected to keep enemies out of a country.  This wall was built to keep the East Germans IN.  They were prisoners in their own land… not allowed to escape.  Thousands tried to cross the wall and hundreds were killed in the process.  The guards were ordered to “shoot to kill” anyone trying to get to the West.   The government tried to destroy the personalities of their people.  The secret police, “Stasi” enlisted neighbor to spy on neighbor…children tattled on parents…husbands and wives informed on each other.  Goods were scarce and of very poor quality due to the lack of raw materials.  Food was scarce.  Living conditions were really bad for you if you were an elderly person.  The students received the best treatment because they had young, impressionable minds that the government could mold and brainwash.  The GDR controlled everyone’s thoughts and actions.  There wasn’t a person that could be trusted.  Mrs. Staege was able to pass through the Berlin gate a few times to visit her family in East Germany.  She risked her life many times.  She would hide money and provisions in her clothing and smuggle them to her needy relatives.  I remember how angry she was when she told me about going to shop at a store  in East Berlin.  There were pots and pans in the window, so it looked like the store was stocked with merchandise.  The problem was that these pots and pans were all for show.  Once you entered the store, it became apparent that the pots and pans weren’t for sale.  This didn’t stop Mrs. Staege!  She plopped some German money down, grabbed a pot and walked right out of the store and the owners just let her go!  She was one German lady you didn’t want to mess with! 

The East Germans were told that their life behind the wall was wonderful!  A big lie!  They were taught to spout the “wonderfulness of the East” to everyone that asked!  They were bound to carry out this lie.  They knew the truth about their situation, but they had to lie to themselves and others to survive.

What walls are we living behind?  It may be a wall that you’ve been building brick by brick for years, or it may be a wall that’s been erected in 24 hours or less!  We so often lie to ourselves and say that the walls we’ve built are to keep the enemy out, but in reality they’re walls that are keeping us prisoners in our own oppressive situation.  Are you hiding behind the wall of “Good Works” and the “Law”  thinking all the time that you are being religiously, righteous?  Behind that wall lies the country of pride and self-worship.  Paul calls that wall in Acts 23: 3…”you whitewashed wall!”  What about you who have been hurt by the world and you’re hiding behind the wall of self-pity?  Behind that wall is also the country of…self!  Self- worship.  Thinking that you’re not as good as someone else is still thinking about “YOURSELF”!   How about the wall of addiction?  Behind your wall is the town of destruction for you and everyone around you!   And what of the wall of human wisdom and intellectual thinking and debate?  Behind your wall…you know you live in the city of doubts.  You can’t accept truth when you see it simply because it will conflict with the wall you’ve built.  You are a prisoner in the lies you have believed.  1 Corinthians 1:2o says this…“Where is the wise man?  Where is the scribe?  Where is the debater of this age?  Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world!

Dear friends…people called it a miracle when the Berlin wall came down.  It didn’t fall because it was knocked down by the West.  It fell because the people from the East, in their oppression reached out and sought the truth and fought for their freedom.  Freedom is a choice!  It must be fought for and defended time and again.  Knocking down the walls in your heart is also a CHOICE!  The Truth is out there!  You can find it in the Bible!  You can find it in a life surrendered to Christ!  He doesn’t keep you captive in lies…No, He frees you in Truth!  Jesus loves you…He came to redeem you!  He came for us while we were trapped behind the WALL of DEATH!  He died to set us free!  His desire is that EVERYONE will be saved!  His will is that all who CHOOSE to come to Him will be saved!  Will you choose to break through your wall and come to Him?  “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”  John 8:31,32. 

Blessings, Linda